Apax Partners Pay Falls by 22 Percent as Exit Values Fall

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Apax Partners LLP, one of Europe’s
biggest private-equity firms, paid its employee owners 19
percent less in the last fiscal year after it made fewer
profitable asset sales.

Profit available to members of the partnership fell to 87
million pounds from 107.9 million pounds in fiscal 2012,
according to filings at the U.K.’s Companies House. Revenue from
continuing operations for the year ended in March was 165.2
million pounds, down from 213 million pounds the previous year.

The largest single payment made to any partner fell to 9.8
million pounds ($15 million) from 12.7 million pounds last year,
the filings show. The recipient this year was Chief Executive
Officer Martin Halusa, according to a person with knowledge of
the matter, who asked not to be identified because the
information is private.

The London-based firm, which owns the Cole Haan shoe brand,
raised less money than it sought for its latest fund and has cut
staff and closed offices as part of a restructuring. Money-losing investments during the year included Marken, a U.K.-based
specialty shipping company for the drug industry. Apax lost
control of Marken to its lenders in December.

Among profitable disposals, Apax sold a stake in Michigan-based software company Plex Systems Inc., making 3.6 times its
original investment, while the disposal of its stake in Atlanta-based tea retailer Teavana Holdings Inc. to Starbucks Corp.
returned almost 14 times the firm’s outlay, the person said.

Closing Offices

In March, Apax closed its offices in Italy and Spain and
reduced the size of its investment team by about 10 percent,
according to two people who asked not to be identified. Apax
plans to open a new office in Brazil this year, they said.

Revenue at Apax is drawn from a combination of fee income
charged to investors for the funds it manages and the profits it
receives from selling companies. Private-equity firms typically
pool money from pension plans and endowments with a mandate to
buy companies within five to six years, then sell them and
return the money and a profit after 10 years. The firms usually
charge a management fee of as much as 2 percent and keep 20
percent of the profits from investments.